DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.



John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezak
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 2: Mantle Of Aries
Chapter 8

John sat at his desk in his laboratory at the University of Texas. He 
examined the blueprints that he had created for his device very 
carefully. He then examined the part that he held in his hand. 
Using the calipers, he double-checked the dimensions for a third 
and final time. He was now satisfied that all parts were within the 
tolerances specified in his design. He assembled the device and 
held it up to examine the final product. It was about the size of a 
walnut and cost close to two hundred dollars to manufacture. He 
had the parts for ten such devices. A larger quantity of those 
devices could drop the manufacturing cost down to two dollars.

He stared at the device for a long time wondering if it would work 
as his calculations had suggested. His calculations stated that a 
considerable amount of heat would be given off, but very little 
dangerous radiation. The atomic particles would be absorbed by 
the device itself. He expected very little gamma radiation to be 
generated at all. It looked too good to be true and as a good 
scientist, he doubted his own predictions.

He removed the top half of the device and looked down into the 
well that was in the base. He put two milliliters of liquid from a 
small flask and replaced the top half of the device. He did not 
tighten it because he was unwilling to start the fusion reaction yet. 
He took the device over to his laboratory bench and set the device 
gently on it.

The calorimeter was assembled and ready for use. He had already 
tested it three times. The first time was to calibrate it and the 
second two times were to make sure that the calibration was 
accurate. He checked all of the connections again. Everything was 
fine and there was no reason to delay the experiment any more.

He licked his lips in nervousness, this was the part that he dreaded. 
He picked up the device and put it in the vise. He started screwing 
the top down using the torque wrench to monitor the torque on the 
bolt. The pressure inside the well climbed dramatically with each 
turn of the bolt. When the torque wretch read the desired value, he 
quickly removed the device from the vise using pliers to hold it. It 
was already getting hot. He set it in the water bath of the 
calorimeter and sealed the calorimeter. 

He watched the readout of the calorimeter with single-minded 
focus. The temperature kept climbing. His device was generating 
heat at an incredible rate. When the water temperature within the 
calorimeter approached boiling, he opened it to allow heat to 
escape and to protect the expensive equipment from being 
damaged. The water began to boil. He dumped the water with the 
device into a larger bucket containing water and let the device start 
to heat that container. 

He went to his computer and looked at the computed results. His 
little device was producing almost 5.2 Kilowatts. It was producing 
sufficient energy to run fifty-two 100-Watt light bulbs. If his 
calculations were correct, it would produce that energy for 
approximately six months before starting to degrade. At the end of 
a year, it would be producing half that amount. Of course, 
increasing the pressure in the cell at that point would return the 
energy production to the original level. At the end of two years, the 
reaction would die. The death would be a result of the materials 
having been consumed by the reaction.

He grabbed some tongs, fished the device out of the water, and 
carried it over to the vise. Fastening it in the vise, he used a wrench 
to remove the pressure in the well. Once the pressure driving the 
reaction had been removed, the device started cooling down. He 
smiled as he waited for it to cool down enough that he could touch 
it. It took far longer to cool down than it had taken to heat up.

He went over to his desk and examined the papers in front of him. 
There were three sets of papers. He signed one of them and set it 
aside. The other, he added a couple of numbers in blanks left on 
one of the pages.  He stood up and got his cloak. Putting it on, he 
stretched to work some of the tension out of his shoulders. 
Returning to the desk, he picked up the three sets of papers. As he 
walked to the door, he grabbed his walking stick. Rover followed 
him out of the office.

He strolled down the hall to the office of his former advisor, Dr. 
Drake. Rover followed him unconcerned and uninterested in 
anything except getting back to the lab to finish his nap. As John 
walked, he hummed a little tune to himself. In fact, it was hard for 
him to maintain a walk. He wanted to run down the hall screaming, 
"I did it!" However, he kept himself under control. He even 
stopped at the photocopy machine and waited his turn to make a 
photocopy of the paper.

Reaching his destination, he knocked on Dr. Drake's office door. 
He was given a gruff reply, "Can you come back in an hour?"

John cleared his throat, "No. I need to see you now."

Dr. Drake opened the door irritated at the interruption. "John, I like 
you, but get lost. I have a lot of work to do and I can't spare the 
time. Come back tomorrow."

"Fuck that, sign this."

Dr. Drake staggered back as if he had been sucker punched. He 
reacted angrily, "What is it?"

"A nondisclosure agreement. You have to sign it before I give you 
a paper."

Dr. Drake grabbed a pen and scribbled his name on the form. He 
handed the form back to John and stated, "Now go."

John smiled as he handed Dr. Drake a copy of his paper. He turned 
and headed to the University Patent Office. As he went, he 
shouted, "Remember, you can't tell anyone."

John had almost reached the end of the hall when he heard a loud 
scream behind him. "John, where are you? This is fucking 
incredible!"

John laughed aloud as he knew that Dr. Drake had read the 
important page of his paper. He turned to see Dr. Drake bolt out of 
his office. The elderly man looked up and down the hall. Spotting 
John, he ran to the young man shouting, "Noble Fucking Prize!"

Other people emerged from their offices to see what caused the 
commotion in the hall. They were greeted by the sight of Dr. Drake 
waving a paper as he ran towards John. Rover started to growl 
until he saw that John was completely unperturbed by the man's 
behavior. When he reached John, he grabbed him while stating, 
"Can I see it?"

John replied, "Let me drop off the patent application. Then I'll 
bring you into the lab and you can see it for yourself."

Dr. Drake followed John on his errand. It was quite a sight as John 
walked down the hall followed by Rover with Rover followed by 
Dr. Drake. When they reached the office where he was to drop off 
the patent application, Dr. Drake banged on the desk until the 
appropriate attorney came out to deal with the issue. The patent 
attorney had received his undergraduate degree in physics. Hence, 
he had a good grasp of the significance of the patent application 
that John handed him. He read it several times very carefully and 
then stated, "Congratulations. Your paperwork is excellent. I don't 
need to touch this at all. I'll get it filed by the end of the week. 
You'll be able to hold a press conference in two days time."

John smiled, "thank you. I don't think I'll do the press release thing 
myself. I'm sure the University has a good public relations person 
who can handle it."

Dr. Drake was bouncing on his toes. Frustrated, he interrupted, 
"Let's go back to the lab. I want to see it!"

John laughed, "I better go. He's getting anxious and I'd hate to see 
him have a heart attack."

The trip back to the lab was performed in a different walking 
order. Dr. Drake lead the way, followed by John and Rover 
walking side by side. Dr. Drake had to stop often to wait for them 
to catch up. As John walked, he realized that he had just done 
another great service to the Goddess. 

At the lab, John unlocked the door and let his visitor into the room. 
He went to the desk and held up the parts for the device. He 
assembled it as the elderly man watched carefully. He removed the 
top and placed two milliliters of the liquid into the well. He 
replaced the top. Once that was completed, he turned to Dr. Drake 
stating, "I need to set up the calorimeter."

Dr. Drake replied, "Let me do it."

In a few minutes, the calorimeter was set up for another 
experimental run. John double-checked the work and decided it 
was fine. He asked, "Do you want to calibrate it?"

"No. I just want to see it work."

John set the device in the vise and tightened it in. He took the 
torque wrench and screwed the top bolt into the well until it read 
the proper number of foot-pounds. Taking the pliers, he grabbed 
the device and released it from the device. He carefully set the 
device in the water bath of the calorimeter. He closed the 
calorimeter and turned to watch the meter.

Dr. Drake whistled, "John, it really works. Look at the temperature 
rise."

John waited until the water was nearly boiling and then opened the 
calorimeter. He used the pliers to remove the device from the water 
and took it to the vise. In a few seconds, he had the pressure 
removed from the well. He looked up, "Well, what do you think?"

"John, you have succeeded. I saw the parts go together. I set up the 
calorimeter. I saw it heat that water to boiling."

John walked over to the computer and hit a button. In half a second 
the result appeared. He smiled, "5.17 Kilowatts."

Dr. Drake shook his head, "Such a simple thing. So what are you 
going to do now?"

John looked serious for a moment, "I'm going to head over to the 
mechanical engineering department and see if they can design a 
nice generator for it. We need to convert the heat to electricity 
somehow."

"Good idea," replied Dr. Drake. He added, "Thank you for letting 
me be the first to see this."

"My pleasure."

John spent the next four hours with a group of mechanical 
engineers; each had signed his non-disclosure agreement. They 
worked out the details of a very simple alternator that should 
produce electricity with an efficiency of 81%. The device that John 
had designed was incorporated into the design of the alternator, 
which actually made it smaller. An argument, quite heated at 
times, led them to decide that it would be better to incorporate four 
of the fusion wells into the alternator. The finished device was 
approximately the size of a shoebox with poles sticking out the top. 
In short, it looked like a pint-sized automobile battery with a 
radiator built into it. When constructed it should produce 110 volts 
AC at 16 kilowatts. 

 They agreed that the resulting design was to be patented under all 
of their names. The basic design would be documented appropriate 
for patenting tomorrow. They would build a prototype of the 
alternator and test it out. One of the engineers knew a custom 
engine shop where they could get the main block built. John agreed 
with the plan and promised to return the next day to review the 
patent application and sign it.

John stepped outside and looked around. Rover's tail swished back 
and forth in agitation. It was nearly evening and the sky was filled 
with clouds that hung low to the ground. The wind blew his cloak 
out and his hair back. The clouds were moving fast. He could smell 
in the air that it was going to rain soon. He needed to get to his 
jeep.

As John walked, he tried to mentally calculate how many of the 
alternators would be required to power a typical household. He 
decided two would suffice for the basic electrical wiring in the 
house. A third set up to produce 220Volts AC could be used for 
electric air conditioner, heater and water heaters. The number of 
uses and sizes for the alternators was huge. He realized how much 
money would result from the patents that he had set in motion. 

He stopped abruptly, an act that caused Rover to bump into him. 
Rover looked up at him and then sat down. John pricked his finger 
and drew a drop of blood. He flicked it to the ground as he stated 
aloud, "I swear that ninety-five percent of the moneys earned by 
me from this invention shall be used in the service of the Gods and 
Goddesses."

As soon as he finished swearing the oath, three large bolts of 
lightening struck the ground around him. Rover jumped six feet in 
the air at the sound. John dived to the ground in shock. John and 
Rover stared at each other in shock for a full minute. John lamely 
spoke to Rover, "I guess they are going to hold me to that oath."

They stood up and ran to the parking lot. They were safely in the 
jeep before the clouds cuts loose with a pounding driving rain. 
John pulled out of the parking lot slowly since the wipers could 
hardly keep up with the sheet of water that washed across the 
windshield. 

He had just turned the corner out of the university when he noticed 
an elderly lady lying on the sidewalk. He pulled the car over to the 
curb, much to the irritation of the other drivers, and stopped the 
jeep. He got out and headed over to the woman. The cloak, with its 
hood up, kept him dry even in the blowing storm. When he reached 
her, he knelt down, "Ma'am, are you okay?"

"Oh, I fell down. I think I broke my hip."

John nodded, "Hold on."

He ran back to his jeep and opened the back door. He pulled out 
his backpack. Rover looked out the open back door. He wasn't 
going to let John close it. 

John returned to the woman. He removed the tarp that was attached 
to the bottom of the pack. It took him several minutes to set up the 
tarp in his basic tent configuration to keep the water off her. He 
pulled the blanket out of his backpack and laid it over her to keep 
her warm. He realized that he had a couple of chemical hand 
warmers that someone had given him as a gift. He broke open one 
and activated it. He handed it to her. "Use this to help keep you 
warm. Let me get some help here. I'll be right back."

He ran across the street to one of the stores. He burst in and 
shouted, "Call 911. We need an ambulance."

He hesitated only long enough to see that the clerk in the store had 
picked up the telephone and dialed the number. He raced across the 
street narrowly avoiding being hit by a car. The driver honked his 
horn and shot him the finger. John crouched down at the entrance 
of the tent. "Help is on its way."

"Thank you, young man. I thought I was going to die out here."

John smiled, "I wouldn't worry about. The Goddess wouldn't let 
that happen to a nice lady like you."

She stated, "It's so cold."

Rover crawled into the tent and lay down beside the woman. She 
didn't realize that it was a cougar. Her first thought was that it was 
a big dog and then she realized it was a big cat. She began to get 
scared, but suddenly he started to purr. The sound of his purr and 
his body heat warming her took the edge off her fear. 

"That's Rover, he'll help keep you warm and safe. Don't worry, he's 
very gentle. I better look out for the ambulance." As John 
comforted her, he could hear the sound of the siren in the distance. 
It would take about two minutes for it to get here. He stood up and 
stepped to the curb.  

John saw the ambulance slowing at the end of the block. He 
stepped out into the street and started waving his walking stick. He 
realized that the light on it was lit. He didn't remember lighting it. 
This wasn't the first time that had happened to him. He filed the 
thought away for further examination. His motions were observed 
by the driver and the ambulance pulled up to the curb right next to 
him.

"Hey, Hero. I see you're back in town." 

"Hi Harry. We have a broken hip under the tent."

Harry walked over to the tent. He backed out as soon as he entered 
it. He shouted to John, "There's a cougar in there with her."

"Ah, don't worry. He's with me."

Harry entered the tent opening and started examining the woman. 
Rover slowly rose and left the tent, returning to the jeep through 
the open back door. Harry stated to the woman, "Hero over there 
sure makes it easy for me to help you guys. He didn't move you, 
but got you out of the rain and warm. Very good."

The woman stated, "He's a wonderful young man. I'd be dead by 
now if it weren't for him."

John waited outside and could hear everything they said. He was 
about to join in the conversation when Harry spoke. "You know 
the earthquake over in California? Well, Hero over there saved 
hundreds of people that day. He was actually on the national news 
that night. He also caught a couple of serial killers for the FBI this 
past year."

John walked over to the ambulance where the driver was getting 
out the backboard to slide under her. He told the driver to give him 
a minute to lift up one side of the tent so that they could get better 
access to the woman. Returning to the tent, he wrapped the tarp 
around the walking on the side opposite of where the rain was 
blowing. He pulled up the tent pegs and lifted the whole side up. 
He looked under the side at Harry and stated, "You've been telling 
tall tales about me, haven't you Harry?"

John continued, "Ma'am, don't believe a word he says. He thinks I 
walk on water, but if you look closely at my ankles you'll see they 
are plenty wet."

Harry laughed, "I may be telling tall tales, but that's only because 
the truth is mighty tall when it comes to you, hero."

The driver ducked under the side of the tent with the backboard. 
Together the men placed her on it and secured her to it. John pulled 
the tent side across the tent so that the men could stand up and 
carry her to the ambulance. It only took a minute to load her. They 
left once everything was secure.

John returned to the tent and rolled up the blanket. It was soaked, 
but had served its purpose. He closed the backpack before it got 
too wet inside. He set everything down and proceeded to take 
down the tent. It only took him a moment to get everything 
together. He carried the wet dripping mess to the back of the Jeep. 
The back of the Jeep was soaked. He set the mess in the Jeep and 
closed the back door. He felt a touch on his shoulder and turned to 
see who it was.

"Hello John. You're back two weeks and you don't even look us 
up."

"Hello Officer Rickert. I'm sorry about not coming by. I was very 
busy the past two weeks. I'm sure you'll hear about it in a couple of 
days on the television news. I plan to make the rounds tomorrow. 
So anyway, how are you doing?"

Officer Rickert smiled, "I was doing all right until I heard that you 
were back here being a hero. Harry couldn't wait to spread the 
news on the EMS radio."

John laughed, "I bet that made your day!"

"Well, I'm glad to see you. I heard you were now FBI."

"I donate a little of my time to them. I do little odd jobs for them." 

Officer Rickert laughed, "Oh, is that what you call catching a serial 
killer? Since I've never done that, I wouldn't know whether it's the 
correct term or not. An odd job, I'll have to remember that."

"Hey, all I did was find him. They did the hard work."

Officer Rickert shook his head, "Right. I'll let you go now. You 
need to get home and into some warm clothes."

John shook his hand, "I'll be seeing you tomorrow. I'm planning on 
stopping by the police station, the fire station, the hospital, and 
courts over the next two days. Then I'm going to go into hiding."

"Hiding?"

"Yeah. As I said, I've been busy the past two weeks. My name is 
going to be in all of the newspapers and on television."

"It's that big?"

John nodded, "Yes, it's that big."

"Well, I better let you go. See you tomorrow."

John waved, "Take it easy. I have to head out."

John returned to the jeep and started the engine. He pulled away 
from the curb slowly and made his way to Mrs. South's. It wasn't a 
long drive and he was looking forward to getting out of the 
weather and spending a quiet evening at home.

He entered the house to find Mrs. South watching the news. He sat 
down in his usual chair and watched along with her. When the 
news finished, he turned to her and asked, "Mrs. South, do you 
mind if I have someone stay here for a day or two?"

She smiled at him, "Is it a young lady?"

He shook his head in reply. "No, it is a man. This is purely 
business. He might bring his wife though."

Mrs. South shrugged her shoulders, "Do you mind if I corrupt 
them?"

John laughed, "No, I don't mind."

She asked, "So how was work today?"

"Very good. I finished part one and two of my project today. It 
should be on the news in a couple of days."

She looked at him questionably. "Is it that important?"

"Yes."

Her curiosity was roused, "So tell me about it. You've been so 
secretive this visit."

"I'm sorry. I really can't talk about it. That's why I'm having the 
lawyer fly in. I need to set up certain protections for what is going 
to happen after the news comes out."

Mrs. South smiled at her renter and wondered what he was doing 
that required a lawyer. It was big enough that it would be covered 
by the news. Knowing him, he had rescued the President of the 
United States or something similar. She answered, "Okay, I won't 
ask any more questions."

"Thanks. Now, I have to make a bunch of calls. I'll take you out to 
dinner when I'm done. How's that?"

"Fine. Can my beau come along?"

"That old degenerate? Of course, I don't want to be the only 
degenerate there." He laughed at the look on her face. She looked 
irritated until he included himself in the category of degenerate. 
She smiled back at him and waved him off.

John made his telephone calls. He called Ed and got the telephone 
number for Jim. He called Jim and arranged for him to fly down in 
the morning. He would have to swing by the airport to pick him 
up. Jim was bringing his wife, Sherry, along. It looked like Rover 
was going to be riding in the back of the Jeep. 

Having finished arranging for a lawyer, he then called Jack. He 
explained the situation to Jack and wondered if he could come 
down tomorrow for a business meeting. Jack wanted to beg off, but 
John insisted that it was quite important and Jack relented. When 
he finally hung up the telephone, he realized that tomorrow was 
going to be a very busy day.

John woke early in the morning after going to bed early. He 
wanted to be well rested for this day.  After performing his daily 
ritual at dawn, he mapped out his agenda for the day. It was going 
to be very busy.

That morning John stopped by the police station and greeted his 
old friends that worked there. Many of them were pleased that he 
had joined the ranks of law enforcement, but he did hear a number 
of jokes about how uppity federal agents were towards the local 
yokels. After that, he went to the fire station and visited with the 
arson investigator and some of the firemen that he had meet at 
local fires. He then headed to the school where he reviewed and 
signed the patent application for the fusion alternator. He asked 
that they all come to his house at three that afternoon to meet with 
the lawyer.  He returned to the house and arranged for a large 
limousine to pick him up for the trip to and from the airport. He 
realized that he was going to have himself, three passengers, and 
Rover. There was no way the Jeep would hold that many 
passengers.

He waited until one in the afternoon for the limousine to arrive. 
They went directly to the airport. John got out and went to the gate 
to wait for Jim and Sherry. Rover followed him. He was soon 
joined by the chauffeur who had come to carry any bags. His wait 
wasn't long as the plane pulled up to the gate almost immediately 
after his arrival. Jim and Sherry were among the last ones to leave 
the plane. They spotted John and walked over to greet him.

Jim stepped up to John with his hand extended. "Hello, John. 
What's up that wouldn't wait until you got back to Arizona?"

John shook his head, "we can't talk about it yet. Wait until we get 
to the house."

"You have a house here?"

"I rent a room from a very nice lady. I have for six years now." 
John didn't know Jim that well. They had talked on a few 
occasions, but he knew Jim had a very good reputation as a lawyer. 
It was his understanding that Jim had argued and won a case in the 
Supreme Court.

Sherry eyed John speculatively, "A nice lady?"

John laughed, "She's about to turn eighty."

Sherry's eyes glittered, "Kinky."

John knew he liked Sherry. She was always ready with a quip that 
made him laugh. It wasn't that she acted like the jolly fat lady; she 
was truly comfortable with herself. He laughed, "So do you guys 
have luggage?"

Jim replied, "Yes."

John hummed, "I'm waiting for the accountant. His plane should be 
here in thirty minutes."

He turned to the chauffeur. "Do we have time to pick up the bags 
and get back to the gate to meet Jack?"

The Chauffeur answered, "If they will give me the baggage claim 
tags, I'll get the luggage and carry it to the limousine."

Jim pulled out the packet containing his ticket and removed the 
claim tags. He handed them over to the chauffeur. "Here you go. 
They are both simple brown bags."

The chauffeur nodded. "I'll wait for you in the baggage claim area 
after you have picked up your other guest."

John nodded, "Thank you."

The four of them wandered towards the gate where Jack was 
supposed to arrive. The group was the subject of much discussion 
among others in the airport. John was wearing his cloak and 
carrying his walking stick. Jim was wearing a western style suit 
with a bola tie and boots. Sherry was wearing a moo-moo and 
sandals. Rover was just Rover. 

The plane that Jack was riding landed in due time. He was one of 
the first passengers to get off the plane. John wondered if he had 
flown first class. Jack looked around and then headed directly 
towards John. He approached with his arms wide to greet John 
with a hug. "Hey, John. You're looking good my friend."

John warmly embraced Jack. He was actually very glad to see his 
friend. He looked like he had put on some muscle since the last 
time he had seen him. "Thanks, Jim. It looks like married life 
agrees with you. You've gained a little weight."

Jack laughed, "It's not fat. That women of mine makes me exercise 
three times a day now."

 Sherry quipped, "Let me guess, horizontal exercise?"

Jack stepped back and looked at her. He stated, "It's the kind of 
exercise I'm best at. I even look foreword to it."

The whole group laughed at that. John performed the 
introductions. Jack was taken by surprise at meeting Rover. Once 
the introductions were over, John stated, "Let's head down to the 
baggage claim area."

Jack stated, "I'll be flying back tonight, so I didn't bring any 
luggage."

"Okay. The chauffeur is waiting for us down there."

Jack stepped back, "For the guy that lives like a monk, you've 
taken to riding in limousines?"

John laughed, "Only when I have more passengers than my Jeep 
can carry. If you haven't noticed, there are five of us and Rover 
takes up the space of two."

The group headed down to the baggage claim area. The chauffeur 
was waiting for them. He looked at them with a rather funny 
expression as though they were the weirdest sight he had seen in 
his career as a chauffeur. They joined him and then followed as he 
led them to the limousine. Jim and Sherry sat at the front seat, John 
and Jack sat that the back seat, and Rover sat on the floor between 
them.

The group arrived at the house without any problems. The ride was 
rather quiet, as everyone was wondering why John had brought 
them there. John was quiet because he didn't want to divulge the 
secret until he had everyone sign the non-disclosure agreement. 
The arrival at the house was greeted with a sigh of relief on his 
part.